Thursday, February 3, 2011

Frozen brain frozen lips

I find it's much harder to speak in Spanish when standing outside in below freezing weather. My jaw gets stuck, my eyes water, my lips harden, and my mouth doesn't move. Why was I standing outside in freezing weather speaking Spanish? I was participating in a prayer service at the round house. This day's topic: WATER. A huge topic, that so often we take for granted. Blessed are those who thirst for justice. Many know the real meaning of thirst.

To give an idea of how cold it was, as part of the ritual, the four of us who were praying were to pour a small glass of water into a bowl. Our glasses of water were frozen by the time we were to pour them.

Luis Gallegos, who I have known for about two years now, showed up at the ceremony early enough to participate. He did great.

Related, we were advised today to turn down our thermostats 10 degrees across the state because we may experience a gas shortage. Already Taos was without gas. It's kind of exciting to be challenged to live a little differently, bundling up a little more, considering alternative fuel sources. This, of course it temporary, but there may come a time, in the not to near off future, in which we ration our natural gas...

After we had supper close to the fire tonight, I went outside to--for the third consecutive night--transfer our four chickens from their normal roosting spot, which is exposed on one side, to the shed. We're not ready to throw them in the oven just yet. I had never handled them before until three nights ago. I was a little nervous and unsure how I would go about moving them. One friend who grew up with chickens suggested I grab them by their feet, "carry 'em two at a time." I went for the feet, but was willing to make four trips. I was surprised at how cooperative the girls were. And they have survived thus far.

But maybe it wasn't that cold outside as the frozen pipes in our house would indicate. Ruby Gene, after seeing me "playing" with the "gallinas," suggested we take Brinca to the park. This was at 7:30 pm. Mom said no (of course), but Ruby insisted, especially since she got a new little bike for her birthday.

So I bundled her up and took her for a walk around the block over snow covered streets. Crazy kid, she loved it. Evidently, she doesn't mind the cold, so it's no problem for her to turn down the heat in the house, even if we all will stumble over our words as we attempt to speak to her in spanish as condensation puffs out of our mouths!

We pray for those who are experiencing extreme cold wherever they may be.